Many
newspapers, including New York Times and Washington
Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles
each month.We can also check with our
local libraries to find out how to get online access through them.

3.It seems
like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is hoping that the judicial stays will take
the heat off the March DACA deadline (and perhaps that our short-attention
spans will turn elsewhere): http://thehill.com/latino/374322-whats-next-for-daca-recipients Let’s
stay connected with our own MoC to let them know that these young Americans
need a reprieve from uncertainty and deserve a thorough legislative solution to
Trump’s self-inflicted wound. Let’s also let Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell know that we expect them to follow through on their
promises: on Twitter @SpeakerRyan and @SenateMajLdr or https://www.speaker.gov and https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/

5.Trump's
budget proposal includes the elimination of the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Project (LIHEAP), which helps low-income families, individuals with
disabilities, and older individuals pay their heating bills http://bit.ly/2ByG5ml The
program has already seen a decrease in funding, even while the price of
utilities has increased. Let's call our MoC and ask that they support full
funding for LIHEAP.

7.“The
Trump administration wants to allow insurance companies to offer more policies
that have limited health benefits and that can reject customers if they have
pre-existing medical conditions. Short-term plans don't have to include the
minimum essential health benefits – such as mental health care or prescription
coverage – that have to be included in an ACA compliant policy. And insurance
companies can refuse to offer coverage to someone with a pre-existing medical
condition, or charge people more money if they're likely to need more care.
“The expansion of short-term health insurance plans is part of a strategy to
create a parallel insurance market that does not comply with the ACA's
rules," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation,
on Twitter. “https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/20/587244292/trump-administration-wants-to-let-insurers-offer-plans-with-fewer-benefits
Comments are currently open and we can add
ours comment here. https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=CMS-2018-0015-0001

2.Democrats
have Connecticut’s congressional delegation locked up, but the state
legislature is a different story, with only a seven-seat Democratic majority in
the House and 18 senators from each party. On February 27th, we have a
chance to pick up a House seat Republicans have held for 44 years in a special
election (https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Hopefuls-hunt-for-voters-12604272.php). Let’s help get out the vote for Democrat
and former Stratford town council member Phil Young! We can help phone bank (from
anywhere) for him at this link.

3.The
children who were in grade seven and above when the massacre at Sandy Hook
occurred, are pretty much all going to be voting age in November.They remember, and they’ve seen the continued
lack of gun reform. Let’s help make sure they get registered.Their voices are important.https://vote.gov/

Election 2018 –
By State

1.ALL:VoteLocal has created a spreadsheet that
shows us all of their vetted candidates for 2018 arranged by state:

1.Shannon
Watts Monday evening: “Typical turn out for a @MomsDemand meeting in Raleigh,
North Carolina: 20 people…..Tonight: So far, we’re counting 500. We had to
start a spill room.”The tide is
turning.Let’s find and join our local
Mom’s Demand Action group and help turn gun reform into a groundswell:https://momsdemandaction.org/

5."Can
you help us with a *5-second survey*? A national group we work with, Action
Together Network (http://actiontogethernetwork.org),
is taking a nationwide temperature check to see how members of groups like ours
primarily identify themselves politically. The survey will be live for 1 week,
until February 27th. The results will be shared on March 13th -
and we will share them with you then. Survey link: http://bit.ly/ATNsurvey

7.As part
of their Electoral Justice Project, Movement for Black Lives has launched
Wakanda the Vote https://ejp.m4bl.org/ This
campaign focuses on getting individuals across the country registered to vote
as they attend the movie Black Panther. Organizations can create registration
events by texting PANTHER to 91990, and individuals can register to vote by
texting WAKANDA to 91990.

8.From Drain the NRA:
“By partnering with the NRA, these public and privately held companies are
taking a political stance by aligning themselves with the nation’s most deadly
and divisive lobbying organization. By association, these companies are
endorsing the gun lobby's practices of halting sensible gun safety legislation,
such as universal background checks and a ban on bump stocks, that would
ultimately make our communities safer. As shareholders, customers and citizens,
we're demanding these corporations end their advertising and corporate
partnerships with the NRA and stand for safer communities, not the gun
lobby.”Let’s join in this effort:https://www.drainthenra.com/company-information-1

9.“A raffle
item at a Cameron Park Fire Department crab feed Saturday night made
some attendees so uncomfortable that they left the event. Firefighters were
auctioning off an AR-15 rifle, the type of weapon allegedly
used Wednesday by Nikolas Cruz in the school shooting in Parkland,
Fla., that left 17 dead. Cameron Park’s crab feed is not the only event
featuring an AR-style gun that is receiving criticism. In Michigan, a high
school booster club canceled a fundraising dinner that would have featured a
gun raffle including an AR-15. In Missouri, third graders are selling raffle
tickets for an AR-15 to benefit their traveling baseball team.http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article200867469.htmlThis makes no sense at all, first responders
and third graders selling raffle tickets for automatic weapons. Please don’t
participate in these disgusting raffles and file a complaint with any group
that is doing this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/banks-gun-sales.html
Apparently, PayPal, Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay will not allow their services
to be used for the sale of firearms. Why not Visa, Mastercard, and
American Express? This kind of restriction is not unprecedented; just
this month, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America barred the use of
their cards to buy cryptocurrencies. Let’s point out to the credit card
companies that they need us and we don’t want them to facilitate gun sales:
Visa 1-800-847-2911; Mastercard 1-800-307-7309; American Express
1-800-528-4800

12.One Vote at A Time
started after the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. Their goal: to make
free-of-charge campaign ads for candidates who believe in gun safety.In 2017, they made over 30 ads for 19
candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates[SR1].In
2018, they are going to 10 states to work with hundreds of candidates. If
we are or know of a Gun Safety Candidate interested in their support, we can
contact them here:https://www.onevoteatatime.us/contact/We can learn more about them here:

1.February
24:On February 26th, the Supreme Court is
scheduled to hear arguments about Janus vs AFSCME (American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees), a case which asks whether public
employees who choose not to join their designated union may nevertheless be
charged “agency fees” to support the collective bargaining from which they benefit.
While the conservatives pretend this is a first amendment issue, if the Court
bans “agency fees” it will—as no doubt the conservatives hope—deal a huge
financial blow to the American labor movement:https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2018/02/getting-their-dues We can join with teachers, firefighters, and
police to show our opposition to this effort to undermine public unions on February
24th at the Working People’s Day of Action all over the country: http://www.itsaboutfreedom.org

1.MI:There are currently nine states, as well as
Washington, D.C., which have banned conversion therapy from being practiced
against minors http://bit.ly/1n6TFT1 On
February 13th, State Representative Adam Zemke introduced House Bill 5550,
which would prohibit mental health professionals from attempting to change a
minor's gender identity or sexual orientation http://on.freep.com/2EEQT4Z Let's
be sure to call our state reps and ask that they support House Bill 5550 to
make Michigan #The10thstate

Many
newspapers, including New York Times and Washington
Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles each
month.We can also check with our local
libraries to find out how to get online access through them.

1.Out of
respect for the Parkland shooting victims, Trump was apparently counseled to
stay off the golf course this weekend while in Florida. He took to Twitter
instead and made it even more obvious that he is not going to defend our nation
against the Russian attacks: https://apnews.com/8f6e1fd141da4efdb1efc880d03aae1e Trumps refusal to enact the Russian
sanctions will only encourage the Russians.Let’s be in touch with our senators to express outrage about the lack of
appropriate response to the indictments and encourage them to co-sponsor the DETER Act (S. 2313) which
would automatically impose severe sanctions on Russia if Putin
interferes in our elections.

3.While
the House passed H.R.
620:
ADA Education and Reform Act, a rollback on the Americans with Disabilities
Act, it is not clear whether there would be enough support in the Senate to
clear the 60 votes needed to pass the bill http://bit.ly/2EFiUJX Still, let's be sure to call our
senators and make sure that they oppose the ADA Education and Reform Act. Disability and
civil rights groups fear the bill will weaken incentives for businesses to
comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which mandates
equal access to public accommodations.We
can use the call script available at 5calls: https://5calls.org/issue/americans-with-disabilities-act-ada

5.According
to Federal Judicial Court nominee Gordon Giampietro, criminals come from public
schools, birth control is an assault on nature and gay marriage opens the doors
to polygamy. Let's read more about him at Urban Milwaukee then contact our Senators to let them
know we oppose this extremist anti-LGBTQ candidate.

8.From one
of our own:These are the 80 bills
currently in Congress. All of them propose commonsense gun safety reforms. Not
a single one is being acted on by our GOP- and NRA-controlled Congress. Your
task: use this doc to Resistbot and tweet the names of the bills to GOP members
of Congress. Going further, at the marches this month, make 80 signs with the
names of the bills. List names of victims on the back. Shame Congress for not
doing more when the legislation's just sitting there waiting to be passed.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IrXrSlA-OR6hPCDZCt93UHGAa-75omkdPkEOmrCeONg/edit#gid=859455503Please
share with your groups!

9.The
president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is making what’s been dubbed an
unofficial visit to India to promote his family’s real estate projects. But
he’s also planning to deliver a foreign policy speech on Indo-Pacific relations
at an event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian newspapers have
been running full-page, glossy advertisements hyping his arrival and the latest
Trump Tower project under the headline: “Trump is here — Are You Invited?” The
ads also invited home buyers to plunk down a booking fee (about $38,000) to
“join Mr. Donald Trump Jr. for a conversation and dinner.” News that the Trump
Organization would be offering buyers in the Trump Tower the chance to meet the
president’s son sparked criticism of potential conflict of interest, and the
fact that Trump Jr. will be giving a foreign policy speech while on a private
business trip complicates the matter further, ethics expert said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/trump-jr-to-give-foreign-policy-speech-while-on-unofficial-business-trip-to-india/2018/02/19/37d00c37-d9e8-40c4-934b-0a26b8160dcd_story.html?utm_term=.c5f07864066eJr. is peddling the trump business on our tax
dollars. Secret service dollars will be used to protect him while he sells
condos in India for his dad and delivers a foreign policy speech. He’s not part
of the WH staff. Let’s contact the White House and tell Trump to stop mixing
his family business with government. Stop wasting our tax dollars and filling
your pockets.

10.Redlining was outlawed years ago.“Fifty years after the federal Fair Housing
Act banned racial discrimination in lending, African Americans and Latinos
continue to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans at rates far higher
than their white counterparts.”https://apnews.com/ae4b40a720b74ad8a9b0bfe65f7a9c29 Time to let our MoCs know that this needs to
be addressed and fixed.

11.“Hundreds
of federal political ads — including those from major players such as the
Democratic National Committee and the Donald Trump 2020 campaign — are running
on Facebook without adequate disclaimer language, likely violating Federal
Election Commission rules, a review by ProPublica has found.”https://www.propublica.org/article/i-approved-this-facebook-message-but-you-dont-know-thatLet’s
tell our senators to get behind the Honest Ads Act (S.
1989).It’s been sitting in the Senate Rules and
Administration Committee since October.Let’s scroll down this page to see the committee members we also need to
contact:https://www.rules.senate.gov/

Election 2018 –
General

1.State
election officials, including many secretaries of state, have just been briefed
by national intelligence agencies about the ongoing threat of interference in
US elections by foreign powers. https://www.npr.org/2018/02/19/586968070/election-heads-straddle-the-line-between-sounding-the-alarm-and-being-alarmist One election official commented that he
feels obligated to "straddle the line between sounding the alarm on the
issue and being alarmist," for fear of eroding public trust in elections.
Well, preserving trust in the voting process assumes that the process itself is
free & fair, so with the White House recklessly ignoring the proven problem
of foreign meddling, let's tell our election officials that they need to keep
pushing the intelligence community to provide them with the information they
need to safeguard the linchpin of our democracy. http://www.e-secretaryofstate.com

2.We know
that voting for MoCs who do not receive funds from the NRA is important, but so
is how they vote on gun-related legislation which we can see here:

1.Feeling
moved and lifted up by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida like David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, and Emma Gonzalez? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/19/florida-shooting-students-push-gun-control Let’s send notes of gratitude and
encouragement to them: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 5901 Pine Island
Rd, Parkland, FL 33076 and then let’s follow their lead! Here are some ways we
can get connected to gun violence social actions upcoming on March 14th,
March 24th, and April 20th:

3.State
attorneys general have been on the front lines of the legal fight against the
Trump administration, and this November we have an opportunity to add to their
ranks. Governing Magazine
considers nine attorney general seats to be in play this fall – seven of which
are currently held by Republicans (http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-2018-attorneys-general-races-states.html). Let’s help elect more Democrats to this
crucial and under-publicized position. We can donate to the Democratic
Attorneys General Association here: https://democraticags.org/

4.For far
too long, the NRA has seemed like an all-powerful, unstoppable force, stopping
all efforts at gun control, but Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, tells us that thinking that way is part of
the problem. She recommends that we read this twitter thread, by ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis, on liberal fatalism
to see how we can begin to think and the act differently to enact effective gun
control in our country: https://twitter.com/AlecMacGillis/status/964984035628986368

5.The NRA
has a well-stocked supply of arguments and talking points to deflect serious
discussion of meaningful Gun control, but people are starting to answer back. A
veteran and gun owner gives a powerful, strongly supported point-by point-refutation
of many of their claims in this Facebook post by his sister, Calista Kline. We
can read this and draw from these arguments in our gun control discussions:

6.On
February 14th, a coalition of organizations coordinated their efforts to
provide a month of Bail Outs, in observance of Black History Month and International
Women's Month. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are incarcerated,
without convictions, because they cannot afford bail. Black Love Bail Out works
to provide bail money for those who cannot afford it. We can help bring Black
Love Bail Out to our local communities; let's check out the toolkit available
at https://nomoremoneybail.org/#top

1.On Wednesday, February 21st at 12 PM,
there will be a rally to support Gun Safety Reforms in front of the Old Florida
Capitol. Yet another assault weapon has been used as a tool of destruction in
order to commit mass murder. We want these weapons and large capacity magazines
banned in the state of Florida. Senate Bill 196 and 1476 are sitting in the
Senate Judiciary Committee and has yet to be heard. We call to place these, and
other Gun Reform Bills on the agenda and give it a fair hearing! #HeartheBills Parkland
students and State Representatives will speak. We can find out more about the
event, and how to join in here:

1.ALL: “There
have been more than 290 shootings on school campuses in the U.S. since 20
children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown,
Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012 according to Everytown For Gun Safety, an advocacy
group. Incidents were classified as school shootings when a firearm was
discharged inside a school building or on campus, as documented in news
accounts. This includes events that did not target students or teachers, like
suicides, misfires and other activity.” http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-school-shootings-since-newtown/ Guns don’t belong in elementary schools,
colleges or universities. Take a look at the map and see how many of these
school shootings were in your state, then call your Reps and ask for sensible
gun laws.

3.FL:
Florida's Constitutional Revision Commission (CRC) has put forth two
proposals in particular that would strip away significant religious freedom
protections that have been a vital part of Florida’s constitution for more than
130 years. 1) Proposal 4 would fully repeal the No-Aid Provision of the
Florida Constitution, which ensures that taxpayer dollars do not fund religion.
2) Proposal 45 would effectively repeal the Uniform Public Education
Provision, which ensures that public dollars fund public schools that serve all
our students and are not funneled into private and religious schools. Let's
read more at Americans United. Though the CRC is likely to pass these
proposals when it convenes for a final vote in May, it is enormously important
for commissioners and members of the media to know that there is strong and
coordinated opposition to these proposals. Let's take a look at the list of
public hearings here and make a plan to attend if we are
able.

4.MD: A
state bill, HB0511, in the Maryland House of Delegates would
require all institutions of higher education in the state to form “hate-bias”
prevention programs and reporting systems that would be tracked by the state
legislature. We can read more about it at The
College Fix.
If we are Maryland residents, let's contact our own delegates to let them know we support
HB0511. If we are in other states, we can contact our own state
representatives to ask how they are addressing hate-bias at state colleges and
universities and point to Maryland's bill as one part of the solution.

Subscribe to Rogan's List

About Me

Rogan’s List is a daily, thoroughly vetted action list for people who are unhappy with the current administration and who want to become more politically involved, but do not have time for the research. The compiler, Susan Goodrich Rogan, is a retired librarian who has worked in university, community college, and elementary school libraries. She is the mother of eleven and the grandmother of nine..